Brad Sherman bows out of House Foreign Affairs Committee race

Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman has withdrawn from the contest to become ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a sign of the damage he’s suffered in the wake of his nasty race against Rep. Howard Berman.

Sherman threw his support to Rep. Eliot Engel (N.Y.), currently the No. 3 Democrat on Foreign Affairs, for the ranking-member post.

Text Size

-

+

reset

Del. Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa) is also seeking the post.

“I have great respect for Eni Faleomavaega and his many years of outstanding contribution to the committee. However, I have decided to support Eliot Engel and I believe that Eliot will do an outstanding job as Ranking Member,” Sherman said in a statement.

Sherman added: “Yesterday Congressman Engel announced that he had the support of the majority of the Democratic members on the Foreign Affairs Committee. This combined with Eliot’s 18 years of outstanding work on the Committee have caused me to end my candidacy and support Eliot Engel.”

Sherman came under fire from fellow California Democrats over a pro-Sherman super PAC mailer that took aim at Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). Its message was designed to attract Republicans and independent voters: “Maxine Waters, Barney Frank and Barbara Boxer all want you to vote for Howard Berman.”

Waters is a prominent African-American, Frank is openly gay and Boxer is a high-profile liberal.

While Sherman said both privately and publicly that he had no control over the mailing. But the continued unhappiness by Berman’s many Democratic friends over his loss in the bitter race doomed Sherman’s candidacy for the Foreign Affairs post.

CORRECTION: Because of an editing error, a headline on an earlier version of this story misstated the committee post Sherman had been seeking. It was ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, not chairman.

Readers' Comments (2)

I guess if they can't beat you at the ballot box they'll try to not let you be a member of their club. This is so petty. You have shown yourself to be an adult, something Boxer, Frank and Watters couldn't. Frank messes with staff, Watters rips off the federal government for her husband and I just hope Boxer isn't charging us for her facelifts!

I recommend you just be the best representative for not just the people of your district, but also for all the people in the US.